U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,901,421; 3,994,425 and 4,039,106 disclose bicycle carriers adapted for mounting on the roof or deck lid of an automobile and which utilize a pair of upwardly opening channels mounted in relatively parallel relation on a pair of cross frame members for receiving the wheels of the bicycles, and an upwardly extending bicycle support frame intermediate the channels for engaging and supporting the bicycles resting in the channels. The bicycle support frame of the carriers in the above patents project a substantial distance above the vehicle, particularly when the carrier is mounted on the vehicle roof, and effectively precludes driving the automobile into a garage while the carrier is mounted on the vehicle. While some of the bicycle carriers disclosed in the aforementioned patents are capable of being partially disassembled to remove the upwardly extending bicycle support frame, such partial disassembly would be inconvenient and time consuming, particularly if done while the carrier is mounted on the vehicle.
The bicycle carriers in the aforementioned patents have vehicle engaging feet adapted to rest on the roof or trunk lid of an automobile and vehicle engaging strap and hook assemblies for engaging the edge portion of the roof or deck lid on the automobile to anchor the carrier to the automobile. However, the size and shape of the deck lids on automobiles varies widely in different makes and models of automobiles, and the vehicle engaging feet and the vehicle engaging hook assemblies of the carriers in the arorementioned patents could not be adjusted in a direction lengthwise of the vehicle to provide optimum positioning on the long as well as the shorter trunk decks.